Anxious to mobilize the street to strengthen the fight against government policy, Jean-Luc Mélenchon has been announcing for weeks a “big march against the high cost of living”, which should take place on October 15 or 16. But despite his repeated calls, the unions are still reluctant to join the initiative. A position reaffirmed this Monday, September 12 in the evening on the occasion of a third meeting on the subject between three trade union organizations (CGT, Solidaires, FSU), associative actors (Attac, Friends of the Earth, Oxfam, etc.) and the four parties making up the left-wing Nupes coalition (LFI, EELV, PS and PCF).
“For us unions, it is premature because we are in the construction of the mobilizations of September 22 (health professionals) and September 29 (interprofessional strike on wages) and we cannot scatter, confirmed to Parisian Céline Verzeletti , confederal secretary of the CGT, at the end of the meeting. But everything remains open. A fourth meeting on the subject has thus been set for October 4. “We will then know if the mobilizations at the end of September were strong and we will be able to discuss the rest”, continues the head of the CGT, nevertheless pointing out a risk: “The mobilizations must not crumble, we must ‘they are visible and massive’.
Glass half full…
The LFI deputy for Seine-Saint-Denis Aurélie Trouvou prefers to see the glass half full. “We have acted with the unions for a coordination that will work over time, which has not been seen for fifteen years”, she rejoices. Same satisfaction with the number 2 of the Socialist Party, Pierre Jouvet, who participated in the meeting. “The organizations present converged on the idea that all mobilization initiatives were welcome, wherever they came from, (by October 4)” he points out.
Regarding the march against the high cost of living, a new meeting will take place in the coming days, probably Wednesday evening, between the Nupes parties and the associations and NGOs involved to move forward, even without the unions. “We will continue to discuss so that the collective is as large as possible, but also to specify the date of the march, its modalities, its watchword”, announces Aurélie Trouvou. The latter says she is “optimistic” about the possibility of reaching an agreement. Saturday, since the Festival of Humanity, Jean-Luc Mélenchon had nevertheless explained that the march would take place “whatever happens”. “We need a show of force from the people themselves,” he urged.